Hermione Granger and the Year of the Secrets
by cecelialisbon
Summary: It's the last year of Hogwarts and disguised as a first year Hermione Granger returns to Hogwarts to act as a link between the boys, the Order and the underground anti-Voldemort movement. As the pressure of what feels like the entire wizarding world begins to bear down on Hermione, unlikely relationships form as she is forced to confront herself as she leads Dumbledore's Army.
1. Chapter 1

"Hermione, are you sure you want to do this?" asked Harry, pushing an unruly lock of hair from his forehead. She nodded, dropping the last few books into her deceptively small beaded handbag

"I've got to stay. We need to know what the order is doing and we're going to need access to supplies. And let's be honest, if anyone had to go back to Hogwarts, it was always going to be me, wasn't it?"

Harry nodded, solemnly. They all knew how dangerous it would be to go back to Hogwarts, but as Hermione had pointed out previously- everywhere was dangerous now that Voldemort had risen to power.

Ron had his back to them both, one hand and his forehead pressed against the shabby maroon wallpaper, his other hand limp by his side. Hermione thought she saw his shoulders tremble slightly, but there was no point in trying to comfort him. She was sure that if any of them let themselves cry they would never stop. And besides, they were going to have to be stronger now. It wasn't an option- the fate of the wizarding world rested with them.

"Ronald, come down here at once, your brother's wedding is in two days and what are you doing to help? Nothing of course…"

The shrill voice of Mrs. Weasley snapped them out of their somberness and and made them jump. They all moved quickly towards the door and down the tiny winding stairs. Harry leading, Hermione in the middle and Ron lagging behind

"Keep your hair on woman, I'm coming now" Ron shouted back, although his voice shook slightly.

kept them all busy- Ron and Harry worked mostly in the garden, helping to decorate the wedding tent in gauzy, silver linen. Hermione worked with Ginny in the kitchen, polishing the old family china that had been dragged out from under layers of dust for the celebration "

Look at them drooling over Fleur" said Ginny, rolling her eyes and indicating to Ron and Harry through the window.

"Oh" Fleur was gasping, clutching her delicate hands to her buxom chest and marveling at the tent that was looking more and more like a Christmas cake as each hour passed.

"eeet is beautiful boys!"

Harry and Ron both went very pink

"I think Ron ought to remember that Fleur is marrying his brother!" said Ginny, shaking her head and polishing the cutlery with more vigor than was really needed.

Hermione smiled, but she felt a twinge of sadness. It was ok for Ginny; Ginny was just as beautiful as Fleur. Maybe not in the shiny, ethereal way but she could catch and hold everybody's attention when she walked into a room with her glossy red hair and fiery brown eyes. Hermione knew that she was plain and that her real strength was her brain. But watching Ron turn into a slushy moron over another girl was painful. She wondered how he would cope without her. How they would both cope without her, on the hunt for horcruxes whilst she tried to destroy the enemy from the inside out. She knew the boys would worry about her too- and that's why she hadn't told them the full extent of her plan.

Hogwarts was, of course, no longer safe for muggleborns. However, predicting this, Hermione had snuck into Dumbledore's office shortly before the funeral and placed a fake name onto the Hogwarts entrance list, and next to it scrawled- "pureblood". It was accompanied with a letter, explaining how her family were based in Poland, however they wanted her to have a British education and they hoped that Hogwarts would accept her. That's what the boys thought- Hermione would charm herself to look different, and enter Hogwarts as a Gryffindor first year. However this was only partially true. Hermione had no intentionof being sorted into gryffindor. Now that Voldemort ruled, all the children of the death eaters would feel safe to speak freely, to spill their secrets and discuss plans- and the children of the death eaters weren't in Gryffindor-they were in Slytherin. If Hermione was going to spy for the order, she was going to do it properly, she was going to be sorted into Slytherin.

Mrs. Weasley bustled around behind the girls, pulling up random articles of clothes that the family had strewn haphazardly across the floor

"So much to do, so little time. Never the less, it will all be worth it in the end…Hermione dear, you are looking a little peaky, are you alright?'

If Hermione had lost the colour to her cheeks, it was because the thought of the task ahead was daunting, but she saw an opportunity and she seized it. It was a stroke of luck really.

"Actually Mrs. Weasley….would it be alright if i went to lie down?"

"of course dear!" replied "do you want me to bring you anything? Some hot soup? Some tea?"

"oh no" replied Hermione quickly "I just need to rest"

"Of course dear, of course, I'll call for you when suppers ready"

Hermione saw the look of confusion and jealously on Ginny's face. She felt bad leaving Ginny to the tedious tasks by herself but there were things she needed to do, important things.

Of course, none of them had told the plan. The only people in the order that knew were Remus, Tonks, Minerva and the twins- and only Minerva knew that Hermione would be entering not as a Gryffindor, but as a Slytherin. It was the one thing keeping Hermione from panicking- knowing that she had such a powerful witch on her side.

Hermione went into Ginny's room and climbed under the covers, she pulled them over her head in case Mrs. Weasley decided to check on her and took her parchment and quills from under the mattress where she had hidden them.

"Now, where was I?" she whispered to herself

Hermone had been preparing things that she thought the boys would need- books, useful information, spells and charm… She had almost finished the last few notes that they would need, which included a list of charms they could use to sound-proof rooms and building, in case they needed to sneak in somewhere…which they inevitably would.

Once she had finished the list she took the quiet time to practice what she had been practising every spare second since the beginning of fifth year. She practiced emptying her mind of all thought, of all emotion. And then, enforcing new thoughts based on what Militisia Regodolus would think- her new identity. Because the person she feared the most, the person she felt the least confident to deceived, was the person she could no longer avoid- Snape.


	2. Chapter 2

The next few days were much the same as the previous had been- lots of frantic preparations for the wedding punctuated by over-crowd dinners and stolen use of the Weasleys tiny bathroom.

"Eeeet iz far too small! I 'ope eet iz not like 'zis tomorrow!" Fleur complained, tapping her barefoot against the oak floorboards.

Fred and George had closed the joke shop and come back home for the occasion, much to the annoyance of Fleur who found them far too boisterous with their constant mischief.

"I wish you boys would just behave, just this once" pleaded

"No can do father" said Fred, scribbling ferociously onto a garish purple piece of parchment. At which moment the word "dimwit" appeared on an identical piece of parchment that had been charmed onto Rons turned back

Ginny covered her mouth to stop herself from laughing.

"If it isn't enough that we have to sleep in the kitchen" complained George "you expect us to behave too?"

"Honestly father, you don't know us at all" finished Fred

The arrival of Fleurs family had forced the boys from their bedroom and into the kitchen. Each night they would charm the hard kitchen chairs into dingy little beds and each morning they would wake up to find stood over them red-faced with anger because their eloquent guests had stumbled into one of Fred and George's contraptions.

It was Hermione that finally pulled the parchment off Ron's back

"Bloody Fred and George" said Ron, blushing a shade of red not unlike his hair "I'm going to curse them into newts and leave them in the garden"

Ron took the parchment out of Hermione's hands to examine it, as he did so his fingers brushed hers. Ever since her arrival at the Burrow Ron had taken every opportunity he could find to touch her, picking pieces of lint off her robes and brushing her hand as he passed her in the narrow hall ways. Hermione hadn't failed to notice that Harry was exactly the same way with Ginny, and she felt that if the circumstances were different maybe her and Ron would have the bravery to steal the kisses, as Harry and Ginny did (much to Hermione's awkwardness when she collided into their embracing bodies in the coat cupboard). Every few hours there would be an outburst from , normally in reaction to Fred and George whose spirits reused to be damped by anything.

At Hogwarts Hermione had found Fred and George's antics irritating, but since they had been informed of the trio's plan they had been supplying Hermione with all sorts of useful trinkets that they refused to take any money for.

"Please" she pleaded with them, trying to press a handful of galleons into their palms "just take it!"

"Hermione" said George "you're basically part of the family, do you really think we'd let our future sister-in-law go to the front line without any help?"

"I'm- I'm not your future sister in law!" Hermione stuttered, embarrassed

But the twins just winked and nudged each other

"All those years telling us off for being dangerous and reckless. Now who is being dangerous and reckless?" Fred laughed

"Oh shut up!" Hermione snapped back, but from that moment onward when she saw the twins sneaking off when they should have been helping to decorate, she didn't say anything

The house was very crammed; members of the order were constantly coming and going. Every opportunity she got, Hermione would talk to Tonks about possible disguises.

The death of Dumbledore still loomed over everybody's head- especially Harrys -but with the knowledge that Voldemort was on the rise the entire Wizarding world had broken into fight or flight mode- everyone in the Burrow had, of course, chosen to fight. The unspoken knowledge that they were all about to face something big kept them from wallowing too much, although Hermione did see Harry, in moments of quiet, with such pain etched across his face that she, too, felt it in her gut. When that happened she would rest a reassuring hand on his shoulder and she would keep it there until the moment was broken up by the sound of approaching footsteps or the calling of their names.

In her head, Hermione was preparing for the task ahead. She was trying to view the world through new eyes- the eyes of an eleven year Polish girl. Why was this girl a Slytherin? What would she think about Voldemorts rise to power? About his ideals? What were her family like? Hermione didn't want to leave any stone unturned. Should Snape slip into her mind she needed to be convincing enough not to give away her true identity, because that would not only mean death for her, but it would endanger Harry and Ron too- everyone in The Order, in fact. No. she didn't even allow herself to think about it, she just concentrated on building up hate- hate for muggle-borns (it was very strange, trying to see yourself through the eyes of those that hated you- trying to understanding their warped point of view). Hermione had spent the last year of Hogwarts with the most peculiar bedtime reading- books on World War 2. Hermione felt that if she could understand why the Nazis hated the Jews, she could maybe understand why the Death Eaters hated muggle-borns. It was hard. She hoped that understanding would be enough, because she could never empathize. It was a strange thing, to deliberately try and divided yourself into Jekyll and Hyde. The loving Hermione that she was and the false identity she would soon have to be.

The night before the wedding Hermione, Ron and Harry crammed once again into Ron's tiny room. Unbeknown to , the wedding wasn't only important event happening the next day- it was the day they had decided to leave. They thought that there would be so many people at the party it would be easy for them to slip away. Hermione felt sorry for whoever was going to have to tell where they had gone, and what they intended to do.

The boys were going to Grimmauld place and Hermione was going to stay at Professor Mcgonagall's. Mcgonagall and Tonks were going to help Hermione form a disguise and discuss a plan for what would need to be done at Hogwarts. It would also give them a chance to practice communicating with each other which was going to be very risky with Hogwarts no doubt running so tightly and the implications of being caught. A number of code words had been decided and the plan was that Hermione would tell McGonagall any information she found useful and Mcgonagall would somehow get the message to Fred and George who would then re-lay it over a radio channel in which only Ron and Harry knew. It wasn't ideal, but it was the best they could do. The thought of only having one-way communication made the trio feel sick with anxiety, but nothing more could be done. Or so they thought.

On the morning of the wedding Hermione watched in slight jealousy at fleurs luminosity in her wedding gown- it was the kind of beauty that Hermione could only dream of, but for once Hermione didn't feel so self-conscious because with the help of a hair potion and skin serum she felt- for the first time since the night of the yule ball- that she might in fact not be ugly.

Ginny was smoothing down her dress and Madame Delacour, Fleur and Gabrielle were all embracing and trying not to cry when a knock on the door pulled them all out of their thoughts.

"Go away!" cried Madame Delacour, assuming the knock to be Bill "you cannot see the bride in 'er dress!"

"Oh no!" replied the voice, of which belonged to George "we'll just speak to Hermione then"

Ginny raised an eyebrow. Of course she knew that the trio were leaving, but she had been kept out of the exact plans by the request of Harry, for her own safety. She was extremely curious as to what was going on.

Hermione left the room and Fred and George pulled her wordlessly into the coat cupboard (far too much occurred in that coat cupboard)

"Ouch Fred that's my food!" cried George

"Luminous" whispered Hermione, and the cupboard lit up

"You know Ron was right about you" said Fred "you are brilliant"

" 'Ermione! We are almost ready" called Gabrielle

"Look" said George "we've been working on this since we first found the Marauders map"

"Hours of labour" added Fred

"And" continued George "we were going to sell it in the shop, but we think it's better if you have the only copy"

He then pulled from behind his back the purple parchment that he had used to mock Ron with the day before

Harry or Ron might have asked what it was, but Hermione realised immediately and burst into tears. It was the answer to all their problems. It meant they could communicate no matter where they were, without giving away their location. The parchment let a person write on one piece, and a recipient received the message on the other piece.

"Bloody Hell!" Said Fred "We didn't mean to make you cry! If you really don't want it.."

Hermione threw her arms around both of their necks

"Thank you, thank you"

"Yeah, yeah" said Fred Blushing "you'd better hurry back, if Ron finds us all in here we'll have some explaining to do"

Hermione put the pieces of Parchment into her beaded bag and opened the door, careful that nobody was around before darting quickly across, back to the awaiting party.

"Finally!" said Madame Delacour "we were starting to zink you 'ad disappeared!"

Hermione wished Fleur good luck and hugged Ginny tightly. She helped pull Fleurs train to the entrance of the tent and went inside, taking her seat next to Harry (who was disguised as a Weasley) and Ron. Hermione felt Ron's eyes on her as she sat down. The wedding started and Madame Delacour began weeping into a handkerchief. was also crying into the shoulder of her husband, although her crying was not nearly so elegant as Madame Delacours. Hermione saw the way Harry looked at Ginny-the way he always looked at Ginny, and gave his hand an affection squeeze. Secretly she wished that Ron would look at her like that.

Even with a werewolf scar across his face Bill was still unmistakably handsome. The ceremony was short but sweet, and the reception was packed with ginger-haired relatives of the Weasleys.

Hermione thought that she had seen Viktor Krum somewhere amongst the crowd, but she had quickly darted behind the back of the twins. Although she sometimes sent letter to Viktor, whenever she was with him she felt a heat radiating from him that she didn't return. He was always trying to find reasons to touch her, much like Ron, but unlike Ron she didn't feel safe and comfortable around him, she felt clammy and somewhat claustrophobic.

Hermione spoke to the twins for a while, until they began to tell her a rude story about their uncle and she cut them short, seizing the opportunity to pull Harry to one side and explain to him about the parchment

"This is incredible" he said, stuffing the parchment into his pocket.

Hermione nodded "It's going to make things a lot easier"

"Hermione" said Harry "I know that you're amazing and you won't do anything stupid but please, please be careful"

She felt a lump rising in her throat. They never really spoke about how scared they were, but the love she felt for Harry at that moment brought up all the feelings she had repressed and her eyes filled with tears. Harry merely pulled her close and she rested her head on his shoulder. Hermione had always felt that she intuitively knew what Harry was feeling, and that he knew the same of her. She closed her eyes and breathed in the scent of him before she heard the voice of Ron

"Alright?" he asked

They broke apart. Ron had his hands stuffed glumly in his pocket. Hermione wondered how after all this time Ron could think that she liked Harry any more than a friend

"Look at this" said Harry, pulling the parchment out of his pocket.

Tonks was waving Hermione over and she left Harry to explain.

Hermione sat down next to Tonks who loosely had hold of Lupins hand. Lupin was in deep conversation with .

"How're you feeling?" whispered Tonks

"ok" said Hermione "prepared. Nervous"

Tonks nodded "but we are going to make sure that you are disguised as best possible. You're not alone in this Hermione"

"Thank you" Hermione replied.

Krum made towards her

Before she needed to dart away Ron appeared from the crowd and asked, much to Hermione's surprise, if she would like to dance.

"Oh" said Hermione, shocked "..yes, yes I would"

Ron was not a very elegant dancer and she couldn't focus properly because out the corner of her eye she was watching Harry talk to Krum and wondering what they could be talking about

"You look beautiful" Ron told her and she blushed

"You look handsome" she replied, which was true despite the horrendous hand-me-down robes he was wearing. The tent glowed with magic- both literally and figuratively and Hermione wished the night could last forever, especially considering what was about to come after.

It had become dark and lots of the guests were tipsy when the head of Kingsley Shacklebolt appeared in the middle of the tent, his booming voice rang out

""The Ministry has fallen. Scrimgeour is dead. They are coming."

The tent erupted into chaos, guests were screaming and disapparating out of the tent. The last thing Hermione saw was Tonks throwing a shielding charm and eight masked, hooded figures flash into the tent- Death Eaters

"Go!" screamed Arthur Weasley in the direction of the trio

Hermione clutched her bag to her chest and gave Harry and Ron one last meaningful look before vanishing into the air. The next time she saw them, everything would be different.


End file.
